Corporations legal battle reaches crucial tage

CHENNAI: The decades old legal battle between the Chennai Corporation and Hotel Picnic, located on land leased out by the civic body, has reached a crucial phase after the Chennai Metro Rail has approached the Corporation seeking more land near the Ripon Building for constructing ancillary buildings, escalators and ventilator shafts for a metro station.
Corporation sources said a detailed hearing in the legal battle between the civic body and the hotel is likely in the next couple of weeks in the Madras High Court.The scheduled 'detailed daylong court hearing' gains more significance after Mayor M Subramanian on Wednesday went on record stating that the prime land (where the Hotel Picnic is now located) will be put to public use soon.